Position during 1988 massacre: Birjand Prosecutor; member of Birjand “Death Commission”
Present post and occupation: Deputy Custodian of Astan Quds Razavi conglomerate (Deputy of Ebrahim Raisi)
As prosecutor, he was one of the key people in the “Death Commission” in Birjand during the 1988 mass executions.
He has been an official of the regime’s judicial system since the 1980s, holding top posts, including chief of the regime’s prisons, Iran’s Minister of Justice (2009-2013) and Deputy Chief Prosecutor under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The European Union put sanctions on Bakhtiari and another two ministers in the form of a visa ban and asset freeze in October 2011 due to human rights abuses. [Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 371/2014, of 10 April 2014 implementing Article 12(1) of Regulation (EU) No 359/2011 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Iran].
The Treasury of the United Kingdom also put him among asset freeze targets in October 2011 for the same reason (Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK, as last Updated on 13/04/2017).